


Take your Demon to Work Day

by FullmetalDevil



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Father Son Bonding, Nightmares, Some Fluff, body horror warning, mentions of past trauma, small depictions of gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:14:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29916048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullmetalDevil/pseuds/FullmetalDevil
Summary: The Connor couple hardly slept do to Benny having a nightmare and, much to their dismay, their little toon disappeared. With them unable to find their missing toon son, Tom was forced to ready himself for work and take off. The pair hoped that the shy demon would reveal himself by the end of the day unawares as to where he had run off to.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Take your Demon to Work Day

**Author's Note:**

> Oh lord was this a long one. This short is nearly 2 YEARS OLD as I had to wait on some pf the parts as I had to get to specific points in the AU. 
> 
> There is some depiction of gore and typical body horror canon to Ragdoll. I tried to keep it relatively tame.

The sun rose in the morning only to be greeted by low grumbling and being shut out by a curtain, Tom was not having the sun's chipper rays brighten his morning. The man stumbled about the kitchen grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and a box of cereal. He didn't want to wake Allison for breakfast, wanting her to get as much sleep as she could considering the both of them had a rough night. He set his bowl down long enough to hear knocking at the front door. A glance at the clock on the wall and the hour it spoke made him inwardly groan as he shuffled down the hall to the door. He opened the front door to be met with 4 glass bottles of milk on his stoop and the milkman happily waved as he walked to his truck to hit his next stop. It should be illegal to be that chipper in the morning. Tom waved at him before cradling the bottles in his arms and bringing them inside.

The man did the slow zombie shuffle back to the kitchen placing one bottle on the table for himself and the remaining 3 were put in the ice box for later. He returned to the table pulling out his chair and groaned as he eased himself into the seat, his back complaining about his night's venture. Tom poured himself a bowl of cereal and set the bottle of milk in the fridge before finally sitting down to eat. He munched on his cereal while occasionally nursing his coffee thinking about the night's events.

Both Tom and Allison were awoken by the sounds of Benny thrashing and screaming. They both had rushed to his room to check on him only to find that he had disappeared. His blankets were thrown all over the place along with traces of his inky threads, telltale signs of him having a nightmare. While normally they would find Ragdoll's cocoon in the middle of the room, this time it was empty. The room was completely trashed with only hints of his ink rather than a sphere. They spent the better part of 2 hours looking for him, cautiously opening boxes and checking shelves since he was prone to hiding in small spaces and lashed out when disturbed. Tom had to give up on the search to try and get some sleep before he had to go to work leaving Allison to continue. The woman searched late into the night, but ultimately she too had to give up and let Benny come out on his own. When she returned to her room she was surprised that Tom was somewhat awake, the man was worried about where their toon had gone. Allison reassured him she will find him in the morning when he calms down, after all the toon couldn't resist her cooking.

The stillness of the home was a reminder to Tom that it's occupants were still sleeping, which perhaps was a good sign. Throughout his annual morning shuffles he hadn't heard a peep from the hiding toon let alone any additional noises from him after he disappeared. He could only hope that Benny would come out of his hiding place soon enough. He liked having idle chatter with him before heading to work or at the very least to stop by his room to tuck him in his bed, but looks like that will have to wait. Tom set his now empty bowl in the sink washing it and placing it in the rack to dry before wandering to his room to get dressed. He drifted down the hall listening carefully in hopes of hearing the familiar sounds of small shoes tapping on the floor to indicate Benny's movements, but alas, the house was silent.

Upon opening the door he saw that Allison was barely stirring, she turned in the bed looking at the clock before looking at him with exhausted eyes. He walked over to the bed and rested his hand on her shoulder. 

"Good morning."

Allison shuffled in the bed sitting up looking at Tom with a hopeful glint in her eye. "Morning. Any luck?"

Her inquiry was met with a shallow shake of his head and a scowl. "I haven't seen him at all. He didn't come out while I was having breakfast. He normally would surface when hearing one of us rustling around by now, but I didn't see or hear him at all."

The budding optimism that was on Alison's face wilted away to a somber expression, the light in her eyes dimming. "I see.”

"Hey, he's bound to come out when he gets hungry. For now it's probably best we give him some space and let him come to us." Tom put on a hopeful face before getting up from the bed to head to his closet to get changed.

Allison sighed sitting up swinging her legs over the side looking down at the floor. "I guess you're right. I can't help but worry though." 

Even though she knew they were no longer prisoners of the studio, the memories of when Benny disappeared was still strong in her mind. He worried her when he would vanish for any reason, she always felt like she wouldn't see him again. He was like her baby and she always worried deeply about him.

Tom looked over his shoulder after her statement. He couldn't lie to himself either, after Benny was separated from them and then the occasional times the toon would hide from a nightmare would make him and Allison deeply worried. They always feared that they wouldn't see him again. He pulled his shirt over his head, tucking it in his pants. 

"We've all had nightmares, it's just that he is a little more difficult to deal with afterwards because of Ragdoll. He's never left the house during these times, so he's bound to be somewhere we haven't looked yet. Tell you what." Tom stopped briefly to put his shoes on. "I'll stop by that little bakery I saw on the way home from work and get him something sweet. He should be out by then and I'll see if I can talk to him.”

Allison nodded in agreement while Tom knelt down kissing her on the cheek “While you're gone I'll see if he'll talk to me” She whispered before Tom nodded and left the room.

The tapping of boots was the only sound that drifted in the halls and Tom wished they weren't his own. Allison said she'll try her hand at luring Benny out with her food since the toon has a notorious appetite so all he could do was trust her to find the shy demon. He stopped at his office and grabbed the finished blueprints for work and rolled them up binding them with a cord. He looked at where he normally kept his tool box only to find that it wasn't where he kept it earning a brief look of confusion as his eyes scanned the table.

He chanced a glance under the table and much to his relief his toolbox was on the floor beneath it and slightly ajar. He shrugged thinking that perhaps he was tired and forgot to leave it out for the following day and grasped the box pulling it out. With a swift motion he clicked the box shut and carried it in one hand while he grabbed the blueprints tucking them under his arm and headed to the front door. He grabbed his truck keys heading out to his truck and turned to see Allison waving a 'good-bye' to him. He waved in turn before setting his equipment and papers in the truck and with the roar of the engine he was on his way.

The highway was long past Tom as he headed down the road, the sun's rays dyed the morning sky soft hues of pinks and yellows as he passed through town. The sidewalks had yet to be rolled out as almost no one was out and about say for the paper boys on their bike routes and the milkman making his annual deliveries. He had to admit he very much liked these hours even if he wasn't a morning person. It was a chance to have the quietest part of the day to himself before the morning rush of traffic and he got to silently admire the early morning sky that he had been denied for so long.

The truck pulled into the work lot which was packed to the brim which was odd considering the hour of the morning. He lightly scowled at the numbers because that only spelled a large project for him alongside the ever persistent bugging of gossiping coworkers. He stepped out of the car and hastily checked into the office collecting his work truck keys and additional paperwork. He was determined to dodge his fellow workers until he got to the job site before his play at stealth was disturbed by a slap to his shoulder. He whirled around to come face to face with his boss.

The slightly younger man beamed at Tom "ready to start the day old chap?"

The man wore a large grin sporting dark blue coveralls that were dotted in oil stains while a collection of blueprints were tucked under his tanned arms. His green eyes while worn from age, had a youthful glint to them that always made Tom internally flinch. Seeing his boss this energetic in the morning was never a good sign, especially for him.

Tom lightly scowled down at him rubbing the sore spot. "You know, I remember a time when I was _your_ boss."

"Yeah, but that was what? 30 years ago? C'mon it's been awhile and I want you specifically to help me with this project. Besides if it weren't for you taking care of me then, I wouldn't be able to take care of you now." The man turned Tom around and ushered him down the hall towards the workshop instead of the lot with the grumpy mechanic muttering curses the entire stride.

Despite the protests Thomas gave about being already knee deep in another project, his boss swiftly swiped the blueprints and passed them off to another lead worker while happily chattering away. Tom wanted to argue but had to slightly nod his head in agreement at his bosses words. If it wasn't for the fact that he had gotten a stroke of luck with some of the paperwork he swiped from the old studio, he wouldn't have a job or a home to care for his family.

\---- several months ago----

Tom sat in his hotel room surrounded by old papers he had taken from Joey Drew studios, his eyes burning holes into the ink stained pages. Some of the papers were beyond hope, but some retained a few names and phone numbers. Curiosity getting the better of him, he wondered if any of them would work after 30 years. A glance over his shoulder at Benny who was still curled up asleep was a stark reminder that he needed to do something. It wasn't fair to the toon to be living in a hotel and then having to hop from one to another rather than having a place to call home. Neither of them had a job and banks won't let you get a house with no proper source of income. He turned his attention back to the papers and he hoped that at least one of the numbers worked and that with any luck would lead to a job that was more than just a clerk at a market. A long sigh escaped him as he gingerly plucked an ink stained page from the pile tentatively followed by the phone.

He spent who knows how long calling various numbers with little to no success or getting someone else entirely. What were the odds that any of these numbers would work anymore? His frustration came to a near boil as he repeatedly tossed the now useless papers into the wastebasket. The last page held a small number written in pencil that pulled a ghost of a smile from the man. It was for a young man who used to work under him named Conner Wallis. It was an easy name to remember since the boy's first name was the same as his last, say for a slight difference in spelling.

He vaguely remembered the kid as being a young eager to learn man who just started a family and was willing to take any job given to him. He had helped him get the job and personally trained the kid teaching him tips and tricks of the trade. The man was reliable and willing to work which at the time he worked at the studio it was more than what he could ask for. The kid was far more useful than Wally but once the machine was completed he had to send him back to GENT. In his mind it was a good thing he sent the kid away because enough lives were lost in the studio, it didn't need anymore.

Returning his eyes back to the paper in his hand, Tom decided to dial the number for grins. At this point he didn't have anything to lose and mildly amused himself with memory lane while he listened to the line as it tried to connect. He fiddled with his pen while he waited and dropped it upon hearing a familiar tone.

"Hello? Conner speaking."

Tom felt like his voice died. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Surely this couldn't be the same guy. Was it? His brief pause was interrupted by the man asking if anyone was on the line. The mechanic cleared his throat before holding onto the phone tightly to his ear like it was his life line. "I'm sorry. I was calling to see if this number belonged to a 'Conner Wallis'."

There was a slight hesitation in the line. "Speaking"

'So far so good'. Tom thought to himself before continuing. "I was wondering if you used to work at GENT who was commissioned by Joey Drew Studios on a project 30 years ago."

There was an irritated sigh on the line before the man spoke. "Look, pal. I don't know who you are, but I've already had enough of reporters trying to figure out what happened at the studio. I already asked you people to leave us alone and I'm telling you to-"

Tom couldn't believe how irate the man suddenly became, but it was his old coworker for sure. "Wait, wait, wait. I don't work for any paper!" Tom desperately pleaded into the phone. "My name is Thomas Connor! I used to work there!" The line grew quiet as Tom wheezed on the line. "Please."

The silence dragged on before the voice returned to the line. "Thomas? As in the grouchy old dog of a GENT engineer who disappeared? Thomas Connor?”

Tom lightly chuckled in mild amusement at the title "Didn't know I was that grouchy, let alone an old dog kid."

A laugh broke through the line nearly making Tom drop the phone "You old bastard where the hell have you been all this time?!"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Tom tiredly sighed into the phone. He couldn't believe he actually found an old friend, he leaned against the wall smiling as Conner happily chatted on the line.

"So where are you?" Conner finally asked.

The mechanic looked over as Benny who was starting to stir, the little demon rubbing the sleep out of his eyes looking up at the man. Tom gave his old coworker the address to the hotel and was met with a chuckle. "Tell you what, meet me at the Meeps diner at 9am and we'll talk more then."

The two men agreed on the time finishing up their conversation with goodbyes and promises to catch up during breakfast. Tom hung up the phone and grabbed his coat next to the bed and looked over at Allison's bed. Benny had finally stirred himself, but had stayed curled up in the opposite bed watching Tom from under the blanket. He saw little pie cut eyes watching him and smiled at the hiding toon. "I'm gonna be out for a bit. Ok?"

Benny nodded before scooting back further into his blanket almost like he was shying away from the man. Thomas looked at him slightly worried, but got up and walked over to the side of the bed Allison was sleeping on and tapped her shoulder waking her up. He whispered where he was going and kissed her farewell promising to bring back breakfast when he returned. He lightly ran his hand over where Benny's horns were under the blanket and the toon scooted back further getting a small frown from the man. Taking the room keys in hand Tom opened up the door and headed out.

The morning air was warm as they were in the early cusps of spring, but Tom couldn't complain. It was a lot better than the cold walls of the studio. He was thankful the restaurant was only a few blocks walk away as he still didn't have a car. He passed by a used car lot as he headed down the road and was eyeballing some of the vehicles. A scowl graced his face knowing that he had to wait until he had a job and got out of the hotel. He didn't want to go out of his way to commit to a vehicle in order for it to sit at a hotel lot for who knows how long until they got a place. As soon as he got a job was as soon as he got a car.

The restaurant came into view and was already lively with the early morning risers with cars circling the establishment. The facility was small with a single room diner while the outside was bustling with waitresses going to and fro from various cars with orders and take out. Tom entered the small diner area and managed to find a table that was empty and not loaded with children throwing pancakes across the room. He sat down and flagged a waitress ordering up a breakfast. 

While he waited Tom opted to amuse himself by watching some children get into pancake frisbee wars with one another much to the dismay of their parents. In his mind he couldn't help but wonder how Benny would behave. The toon seemed to be rather shy and quiet so he doubted he would ever behave in such a manner which was a good thing. He just couldn't help but wonder why it felt like he was giving him the cold shoulder. Was he really that shy? Or is it something else? He didn’t have the luxury of getting to know the toon like Allison did prior to the fall. He wasn't sure what was considered normal for the little demon, he just hoped it wasn't anything serious. 

The mechanic relaxed in his seat patiently waiting while another man slightly younger than himself sporting a tan suit entered the room and looked around. As soon as his green eyes landed on Tom a huge grin split his well tanned face and he waltzed up to him. He could never forget a face, especially one of someone like the infamous Mr. Thomas Connor, his former boss.

"Thomas you old bastard, how have you been?!" The man eagerly took a seat shaking Toms hand before they were joined by a waitress carrying a tray of food.

"I've been better." Tom tiredly smiled while accepting his breakfast from the waitress while Conner placed an order for his.

He looked over his former employee and the years had shown on the man. The once skinny as a rail face had fleshed out and sported hints of wrinkles from age. His skin tanned from the days spent in the sun and yet despite his worn appearance he gave off an air of energy and youth. Tom chuckled to himself. 'The kid hadn't changed a bit.'

"What do you mean? You look good." Conner lifted a brow looking at his old boss gesturing to the man. For not seeing him for 30 years, Thomas looked surprisingly young, like he hadn't aged much. The man was a few years older than him and his hair was still black and not showing signs of grey as he was certain he would have. That or his old boss is secretly vain and dyed his hair which he doubted, he didn’t strike him as the type. Even his face looked younger then he should be, whatever he had been doing kept him pretty fit. Though despite how surprisingly young Thomas looked, he wasn't as bulky as he remembered. He could have sworn the man was more muscular before. Tom's small sigh at his commentary earned a raised brow.

"Well at the moment I'm looking for a new place, I have no job, and I have my family to care for." Tom slouched over the table drawing his fork over his pancakes before stabbing them.

The tone of Tom's voice was so soft and exhausted, it was very much unlike the strong rough around the edges man he once knew. The man that could move a mountain and probably build one while he was at it. A man who didn't take nothing from no one now sounding like he'd topple at the slightest breeze. Conner looked at the man with deep concern and whispered. "What happened?"

Conner was met with a long sigh before Tom finally spoke. He told him of what happened with the studio after he sent Conner and the remainder of the team home after the completion of the Ink Machine. How joey had somehow dabbled in cursed magic losing his mind and plunged the entire place into hell that was overrun with inky remnants of the former staff who weren't able to escape. That the Ink Machine and it's owner ensnared anyone and anything within their grasp and that he and Allison spent all those years trapped in their own personal hell trying to survive. It wasn't until Henry, a former staffer and co-founder, came that they were able to escape. He made it a point to not mention the nature of the toons at all since it was something he didn't exactly want too many people knowing about. He opted to make it sound like they had an actual child rather than caring for a plushdemon toon. 

"Now that I'm no longer stuck there, Allison and I no longer have a home and we have Benny to care for." Tom's lengthy story coming to a close with a frustrated yet exhausted expression.

Conner patiently listened to his former bosses entire story and knew the man wasn't a liar. It horrified him of what happened and why so many people disappeared, but it warmed his heart to hear that Tom and Allison finally had a child. It wasn't a secret that the two loved each other dearly and it was only a matter of time before they had kids. It was nice to hear that the grouchy head engineer finally settled down, but the tale he had heard wasn't a pleasant one. The man he once looked up to and helped him get his start in life finally gets to resume his life, but he has to start from the ground up since he lost everything. He pondered over his former bosses words before a little thought crossed his mind.

"Hey if you need a job I can get you one." Conner's voice causing Tom to look up at him. "I own my own company now, and I can use some reliable help.” He flashed Tom a hopeful grin.

The old mechanic’s eyes lit up in disbelief dropping his fork. "A-Are you serious?"

Conner chuckled at Tom's reaction. "Serious as a heart attack man, you helped me out with my family back when I was down on my luck and needed a job. Now it's time for me to help you with yours." he leaned back in his chair giving the man before him a confident expression. "I can have you start first thing tomorrow if you're up for it."

Tom looked like someone had smacked him across the face with a fish. He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to form the words but was only able to muster a small "Thank you".

The remainder of the visit was merely small talk about where the job was and what needed to be done. Conner ran a business similar to GENT except that they didn't just do large design and construction projects for companies, they also offered construction to residential as well. Once all the details for the job were hammered out as well as a start time Tom ordered up 3 extra meals to take home. Upon the delivery of the meals and Thomas was ready to pay the bill, Conner offered to pay for him. When Tom protested he argued back that he was repaying a favor for all the times Allison used to make an extra lunch for him, and for the 'senile' old man to hush up. Tom gave him a small hug as thanks deciding to let the senile comment go.

Before the two men parted ways Conner turned around and pointed a finger at Tom "As payment for hiring you, you have to let me meet your son someday."

Tom nodded in a joking manner until he realized the reality of having Benny a plushdemon toon meet his former employee and now employer, but before he could tell him 'no' Conner had already left. 'Oh well' Tom shrugged looking at the door. 'I guess I'll worry about that later'.

  
  


\-------- Present Day--------

  
  


Tom found himself being led to the company workshop feeling like a man walking an energetic dog half listening to his boss boast about the new project and how much it's gonna change the industry. He frankly would rather be a million miles away working on something. He didn't know what exactly had the 'kid's' goat going, but he could only watch in mild annoyance before he was taken out of his thoughts with a series of papers being shoved in his face.

“The hell?” Tom sputtered as he grasped the offending paperwork. As soon as he removed the papers and was about to give his boss the 'what for' he stood before a strange machine that sat in the middle of the shop and it was paired along with several others. He was instantly reminded of the ink machine as a clear frown graced his features.

Conner spotted the look of disapproval on his friend’s face and was immediately at his side. He snatched the papers from Tom's hand along with quickly grabbing the man since he nearly did an about face at the sight of the machines. “L-Look I know what you're thinking, these are anything like the Ink Machine.”

Tom tried to pull away from Conner, but the man's grip on him only tightened showing that he wasn't letting up. After a few quiet moments the irritated mechanic let out a low growl before glaring down at his boss. “5 seconds to explain starting now.”

Taking the hint Conner gingerly walked past Tom gesturing to the machines. “Are you familiar with the textile industry?”

“What type of question is that?” Tom deadpanned. “Of course I know of the industry, they make all the clothing and fabrics. Why?”

A huge grin split his bosses face. “Well with modern sciences they were able to make synthetic fibers, which means we won't be needing as much cotton and wool anymore for clothing. The fibers can be chemically made and this machine is designed to process the new fabrics and to print patterns onto them!” He waved at the equipment before him. “In the past if you want a print you have to have someone go through all the hassle of making the prints which could be costly and time consuming. This machine is designed to make the prints by mixing the ink with the fibers as the fabric is being put together. In other words it prints the pattern on the fabric as it's being made.”

Tom looked neither amused nor impressed by his boss's explanation. The only key words that were ringing with him were 'print' and 'ink' for which it reminded him too much of the ink machine and he was not in the mood for any more machines of the caliber. His look of frustration and disapproval reappeared on his face with his stiff posture speaking volumes about his blatant refusal.

Conner approached him and rested a hand on his shoulder looking at him sincerely. “Look this isn't another Ink Machine. This is a machine that is only to print a pattern on fabric that is to be worn by the masses. It isn't funded by some lunatic who wants the impossible. I know they sound similar, but I can guarantee you they aren't. I just need some help making sure they work properly so they can go to their new home.”

The man’s answer was a groan before Tom looked at him. “Fine, I'll help.” the man growled out. 

“That's the spirit!” Conner cheered as he slapped his friend on his back roughly causing the man to drop his tool box. Tom uttered curses under his breath as he picked up the box and set it on a nearby bench. The rough handling of the box disturbing the contents within.

The two men mulled over the blueprints making adjustments and measurements as well as double checking the information in comparison to the machines themselves. Tom chuckled the more he looked at the new contraptions. They were designed to make patterns on fabric like how an artist makes a pattern on a piece of paper. He could only imagine the look on Benny's face if he managed to get his hands on the fabric that these machines would be making. He could already picture the glint in his pie cut eyes and eagerness to fiddle with them. It wasn't a secret that the toon liked to play with fabrics and cotton, which was probably because of his body type.

“So, the test fabric that will be made with the machines… what will happen to them?” Tom inquired while he was double checking the blueprints.

Conner shrugged “Probably get tossed since they won't have any significant print or anything. It's just to test to see if they work.”

Tom stopped analyzing the blueprints and looked at his boss with a hopeful expression. “Would anyone care if I took the initial test fabric home if it's just gonna get tossed? I know someone who would love to give them a try.”

“I don't see why not.” Conner spoke while looking over the machine matching it's blueprints to it. “I take it, it's for the missus?” He glanced over his shoulder giving a wiggle of the brows with a cheeky grin. The man’s inquiry got a small laugh from his coworker, turning his brief amusement into one of confusion. “What's so funny?”

“I'm sorry” Tom gained control of his laughter. “My son likes to work with fabrics. He's actually gotten pretty good at making clothing and stuffed toys.” A warm smile graced the man’s features as he remembered some of the clothing the toon had happily made for him during the cooler months. Benny had learned a lot from the old ladies and was practicing making various items and patterns nearly every day

Tom's brief trip down memory lane was interrupted when a pointed finger invaded his personal space startling the man. He looked at Conner dead in the eyes as the man bore a serious expression. “You promised to let me meet him someday. I won't let you take home the test fabrics until you let me meet him.”

“B-But he is incredibly shy and doesn't take to people well.” Tom tried to come up with a weak excuse as to why his boss and friend couldn't see Benny. “Look he isn't really social and prefers to keep to himself.”

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” His boss pouted, crossing his arms. “let's just get this show on the road and get these machines up and running.”

“Fine.” Tom groaned while grabbing his tool box and setting it on the table.

The man undid the clasps of the box one by one before opening the lid, he failed to see the inky threads that protested their disturbance as they were firmly connected to the lid. Before Tom had a chance to realize what was going on, a large gloved hand shot out of the box shoving the mechanic to the floor pinning him down, knocking the wind out of him. The man shouting from the impact and wheezing from the pressure the hand was putting on him.

Conner watched in horror as a large gloved hand had appeared out of his friend and coworkers tool kit pinning the man to the ground. The hand was large enough to cover his chest and was connected to the box by strange black cords. A figure emerged from the box and rapidly expanded in size to a large black horned creature looming over his coworker. 

The beast was humanoid like with a large round head topped with what looked like 2 long hooked horns. Despite the massive hand that had Tom pinned to the floor, the remainder of its arms and the cords that kept them connected to its body lazily snaked around it's area daring anyone to get too close. The other free hand twitching in anticipation as it slowly drifted through the air around its body protectively. The chest and stomach area was the most disturbing and looked distinctly like a second mouth dribbling a strange black fluid all over the floor like drool from between large white protrusions strongly resembling teeth. The creature's head was hovering above his friend's head and was bearing massive teeth snarling at him. From his vantage point he couldn't see any eyes as more of the black fluid was dripping from its head covering where he would assume it's eyes were.

Fearing for Tom's life, Conner grabbed the biggest wrench within reach and began to gun for the demon. "Let him go!!" 

He cocked back his arm ready to hit the creature with all that he's worth. He was going to get this beast off his friend if it's the last thing he'll do. The man got within range of Ragdoll's threads ready to do battle before a shout made him stop.

“Conner don't!! Don’t touch him!!”

Tom looked at Conner firmly in the eye holding his hand out before turning his attention back to the beast of a demon that loomed above him. The man daring not to move too much under the demon's hold, but openly gesturing for his boss to back away. He didn't want him to potentially aggravate Ragdoll and make him lash out.

Conner stood dumbfounded as to why the man would tell him not to attack the beast that clearly looked like he was going to eat him. His confusion tripled when Tom placed a hand on the side of the beast's head making it flinch and seemed to be talking to it while gently rubbing it's side.

“Hey big guy, what's wrong?” Tom patted Ragdoll on the side of his face wiping away his large inky tears. The demon's singular eye full of fear and sorrow.

Ragdoll didn't speak but instead made a small pathetic squeaky toy like sound and leaned his head onto Tom's chest. Conner looked like he was gonna gun for the demon at the sudden motion, but Tom held his hand up again telling the man to stop and back away. The older man continued to pet the demondoll and made soft cooing sounds while Ragdoll gently nuzzled his chest with his low squeaky whines slowly fading. 

Tom couldn't help but feel the small trembles that racked Ragdoll's body let alone the fear he saw in his eye. He couldn't help but wonder what the nightmare was about to have Benny so scared. He's seen him scared before, but this was something else. He didn't dare move until he was certain Ragdoll was in a position that suited him all the while he gently rubbed the base of his large horns trying to soothe him.

After a few tense moments the demon's body slumped over collapsing onto the ground leaving the devils head on top of Toms chest. His arms and cords fell bit by bit splayed all over the floor as the demon deeply exhaled. Conner looked baffled at the creature as it's limbs were sprawled all over the workshop floor while it's main body was almost curled up next to Thomas leaving it's head on the man. It almost looked like it was trying to curl up under his coworker like it was seeking protection.

The mechanic spent a few more moments quietly mumbling to the beast before a copious quantity of a strange black fluid pooled out from under the beasts body and to Conner's surprise it seemed to be rapidly shrinking. It's limbs quickly retracted and grew smaller in size. Conner quickly stepped away from the pooling black fluid covering his face in precaution from a strange smell originating from the fluid. He hoped it wasn't toxic, but what struck him as odd was Tom was perfectly fine in the fluid. It isn't dangerous? The man didn’t even flinch from it.

Much to the engineers surprise the black fluid vanished as quickly as it came. It just faded away as if it were never there. There was no way such a quantity of fluid can just disappear. What was that stuff? The man looked up from where he stood at the edge of the now clean floor for his eyes to fall on his friend slowly sitting up.

He watched Tom scoop up something from the center of where the black fluid came from cradling whatever it was in his arms. The man somewhat curled around whatever it was with his grasp doing subtle rocking motions with his voice was low as if he was talking to something.

“W-What the hell was that?” Conner asked, still having his wrench at the ready.

“Lower the wrench pal, everything's fine.” Tom turned his head looking at Conner with a scowl at the brandished impromptu weapon earning a confused look from his boss.

Conner lowered his wrench and slowly edged to his former bosses side and looked into the man's arms with something small and black curled up within them. He didn't quite know what he was looking at. It was a creature with a round head topped two short horns and a large sepia yellow face. It's eyes were closed and it's mouth was in a sort of frown while large black marks that resembled stitches were on the left side of it's face. What really shocked him was the fact that the creature's head was not connected to its body, it was floating. It's body was small and round with noodle-like limbs covered in what looked like more stitching and wore a yellow bow tie and gloves. If he didn't know any better it looked like the old cartoon character Bendy the Dancing Demon from Joey Drew Studios.

“T-Thomas” The man cleared his throat. “What is it?”

His question was met with a scowl soon followed by an exhausted sigh. Tom turned letting his boss see more of the toon within his arms before speaking. “This little one's name is Benny. He was born from the prototype ink machine commissioned by Joey Drew 30 years ago. In a way he is also my son.”

Conner looked at the toon and then back at Tom. “I got time.” the man gestured to an empty bench for which both men took a seat.

Tom told him the truth about the ink machines that had been made, both the prototype and the final version. How he had tested the first machine with a little plush Bendy doll and Benny was an accidental byproduct of the experiment, along with the fact that Joey tried to kill him because it wasn't what he wanted. The toon demon was considered 'off model and thus disposable' because of his mismatched eyes and yellow coloring. Conner listened to the man with wide eyes hearing the truth about the machines that he had worked on alongside Thomas and finally seeing the results before him. The mechanic told him about Bendy and that there were only 2 toon's successfully made from the machines before the studio collapsed separating him from Benny for 30 years. It grew difficult for him to explain how they escaped, but Conner rested a hand on Tom's shoulder and told him to take his time and that he didn't need to rush. After a few steady breaths Tom finished the story of how they escaped the studio and how Henry took Bendy and he and Allison took Benny. That both toons were being properly cared for rather than being left behind to rot in the remains of the studio.

“I see.” Conner rested his elbows on his knees looking at Benny curled up in Tom's arms. “So after everything you went though you walked away with a little plush demon toon and son. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see Joey's face when he realized that the little guy was yours.”

Thomas chuckled at the memory. “Oh yeah, he was furious. He didn't appreciate Benny coming from me and Bendy coming from Henry. As far as he was concerned that little bit from us was just enough to ruin the toons in his eyes and as far as I'm concerned I think that tiny bit was what helped make them in the first place. A touch of humanity to something imaginary.”

“So what exactly was that thing that attacked you? Surely that couldn't have been the same little guy? Right” Conner tilted his head.

“Oh it was him alright, just his other form. Benny has 2 forms; his little normal toon appearance and his second form we call 'Ragdoll'. We call it that because his body looks so torn apart and the fact that technically he is still a plush toy. I don't know when he developed that form or if it was something he had all along, we were separated for 30 years after all. All I do know is that that form was a huge help in various parts of the studio and he has even found a use for that form to this day. He doesn't take it very often, but he uses it to help out as best he can. He's a sweet boy that doesn't want to hurt anyone.” Tom smiled and gently brushed his hand along Benny's cheek.

“Sounds like your quite proud of him.” Conner's voice made his friend look at him. “I mean despite all that you've been though you sound like a proud father bragging about his kid. I'd never thought I would see the day when you would finally be making those comments considering how sweet you were on Allison.”

Conner's word's made Tom's face go red in embarrassment, the man attempted to defend himself before he felt shuffling in his arms. He looked down to see Benny stirring himself slowly opening his pie cut eyes. 

“Hey there little guy” Thomas smiled at the sleepy demon, Benny looked around slightly before his eyes rested on Conner sitting next to them. The man looked at the toon wide eyed and his mouth slightly agape. Benny made a small squeaky toy whine upon sight of the unknown man and tried to hide deeper in father’s arms in panic. “Hey, it's ok, it's ok, it's ok.” Tom gently patted the demo to try and calm him down. “It's ok.”

Deciding to give Benny a bit of room, Conner scooted further away from Tom so the little demon could feel more comfortable. He watched the man repeatedly pet the shy demon whispering to him and eventually he watched the toons arms split apart revealing much smaller versions of the black cords he observed earlier. The toon wrapped them around Tom and himself looping them around and around making the man wonder just how long his arms were. After a few moments Tom stood up with the little demon hanging off him within his coils like a strange black koala while the demon in question was out like a light. Little cartoony 'Z's floated above his head earning an amused huff from Conner at the odd display of toon logic.

“You'll have to forgive him.” Thomas nudged the demon towards his stomach clearing up his chest. “He had a rough night and is very tired. Allison and I played hell trying to find him since once he gets spooked from a nightmare he tends to hide and is very touchy, as you saw he jumped out of the box in Ragdoll form. Normally we are able to deal with him at home once we find him since he has several known hiding spots and can spot the signs right away. I wouldn't have guessed he'd be hiding out in my tool box since he's never done that before.”

“Is he gonna be ok like that?” His boss pointed at how Benny hung off Tom like a little demonic sloth hanging by his threads. 

“He'll be fine. He's done this before when he's really tired and is in 'koala mode'. For now let's just finish up here so I can take him home, but first I gotta call home.” Tom tiredly shrugged getting the 'ok' from his companion.

The mechanic drifted to the nearby phone picking it up off the wall and dialed for home. He could only imagine the state of the house with Allison most likely tearing it apart trying to find Benny. He was already running over scenarios in his mind as to what he was gonna say on the phone while he listened to the phones ever characteristic ringing.

“Hello, Connor residence.” the woman sounded very tired on the line.

“Hi honey.” Tom's voice caused a pause in phone.

“Please tell me you have him with you?!” Allison all but shrieked into the line causing Tom to jolt back from the volume. “I can't find him anywhere in the house! I checked every box, closet, shelf and small space I could find. I even checked your garage and around his play room and he isn't anywhere. Please tell me he's with you.” The desperation in Allison's voice was heartbreaking.

“Y-Yeah I have him” Tom uttered into the phone while glancing down at Benny hanging off him. 

He proceeded to tell her how Benny had hidden in his tool box and that he didn't realize the toon was there until he opened it. That the demon popped out the box in Ragdoll form pinning him to the ground in self defense. That he had attempted to sooth the demon and once he calmed down, he reverted back to his normal form. They concluded that Benny must have had a really severe nightmare for him to be very anxious and defensive more so than previous times, let alone hiding in a place he's never done before. Tom quietly wondered if the nightmare may have involved him since Benny had originally hidden in his work space rather than a comfort zone like the shelf, crate or couch.

"T-Thank goodness" Allison's voice quivered on the line. 

Tom had to admit hearing his wife's distress brought up old memories of when they got separated from Benny the first time. It still pained him that a small mistake spiraled out the way it did, but at least for now he has what's the most precious thing in their lives hanging off him asleep. 

"Though, unfortunately he's here with me." The mechanic hesitated on the line. "At work"

"Please tell me no one saw him." Allison clung to the phone cord tightly. She knew Benny in his normal appearance would be viewed as strange but most would pass him off as an oversized toy. However Ragdoll is a completely different matter and she feared that if someone saw him in that form they would have little way of keeping people from panicking at the sight of him.

Thomas let out a sigh on the line before speaking. "Sadly no. My boss saw him. I had gone to open the box inside the workshop and Benny popped out. Luckily Conner remembers the old Ink machine since he helped me build it so I was able to fill him in. I don't think he would cause Benny any trouble."

Allison let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "That's a relief. I don't want anyone bothering him."

The couple spoke on the phone for a few minutes longer before Tom hung up and walked back to the heart of the workshop with Benny still hanging off him. He lightly checked the sleeping toon to make sure he was secured and wasn't going to move before rolling up his sleeves. "Let's get this over with."

“You sure?” Conner pointed to the sleeping toon. 

“He’ll be fine.” Tom lightly pat the demon’s head. “Once he gets his threads and arms wrapped around something he very rarely lets go, if at all. He’ll be fine as we’re only checking and test running the machines correct?” The man’s comment earned a nod from his boss. “See, then there'll be no issues.”  
  


Conner shrugged but accepted Tom’s statement that the toon would be ok where he was before the men got back to working on the machines. Much to his surprise Tom was right about how no matter what he did Benny was tightly wrapped around his chest and didn’t move an inch. Even when the man was using a skateboard to slide under the machines to check their inner workings the demon wasn’t at all bothered by the motions and held on fast asleep. He had to inwardly chuckle at watching his former boss and his little toon son. It was amusing to watch them.

The two men finalized the last of the checks before deciding to give the machines a test run. Conner hooked all the necessary materials to each machine and once he felt that they were ready, Thomas threw the switch. They stood back and watched the machine hum to life as the materials were fed through them before a simple floral print fabric slid out of the end of the machine lineup. The hum of the machines woke a little passenger as he slowly stirred while hanging off his dad.

Benny looked up from his perch to see a strange collection of machines with what looked like cords being fed through them as they were colored and woven together to form fabric. The toon was curious as to what exactly they were but he had more pressing matters to attend to, where was Tom? Before he had a chance to look around properly, a pair of warm rough hands rested between his horns directing his attention to the owner of the hand. The owner of which he realized he was wrapped around.

“Hey.” Tom smiled at the little demon who had finally woken up. “How do you feel?”

A look of relief briefly flashed on the toon’s features before a warm smile replaced it as soon as it came. “I’m ok.” Benny leaned into his touch.

“Did you wanna get down or are you ok there?” Tom softly inquired. 

In reality Tom knew he had to set Benny down at some point so he could better focus on the machines, but another part of him didn’t want to set the toon down at all. That small lingering fear in the back of his mind that if he set Benny down that the toon would disappear. A glance at his boss warranted a look of confusion as he couldn’t understand as to why Conner seemed to have this odd smile on his face.

Benny looked up at Tom and knew he needed to get him go, but he really didn’t want to. He was afraid to let go, yet part of him felt the man would be safer if he wasn’t near him. Afterall he is a monster...

The plushtoon didn’t have long to ponder what he wanted to do before a voice broke him out of his train of thought.

“Aww, looks like your little one is up. He’s kinda cute.”

The toon’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates with his head snapping away from his dad and to an unknown man standing a few feet away from them. The man’s presence made Benny immediately try to hide behind Tom as best he could with the man quickly catching the timid demon.

“Hold on, hold on.” Tom hugged the toon to keep him from running. “Everything is ok. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Benny found himself being unwound from around the man as Tom was undoing his threads allowing him to contract them back into his arms with a clear look of confusion on his face. He couldn’t understand why his dad was nonchalant around this man and wasn’t trying to hide him since they didn’t want too many people knowing toon’s existed, let alone him being seen without any sort of disguise. The look on his face was met with a glimmer of amusement on his father’s along with a chuckle.

“This gentleman’s name is Conner. Back during my time in the studio working with GENT he was my right hand man in building the ink machine.” Tom gestured to the man who lightly nodded his head in greeting to the demon. “He helped me build and install the prototype ink machine before moving on to continue development of the final version of the machine. Once the final ink machine had been completed and was ready to be used, I had sent him back to GENT as the additional staff wouldn’t be needed. I was under the assumption that my employment with Joey would have ended upon the machine's completion. I had hoped that he would get started on projects I would have worked on after JDS so that once I was done there I would catch up with him and take over, obviously that never happened.”

A big grin grew across Conner’s face as he approached Tom and Benny. “If your dad hadn’t sent me away I would have been caught up in all that happened there and wouldn’t be able to help you guys today. He sent me away despite knowing the machine as well as him, but all of us were under the assumption our employment was over with the studio. See back in the day when I used to work with him, your mom used to give me lunch alongside your dad so my wife could focus on feeding our children. When I found out your mom and dad were still alive and that they were homeless and needed a job, I jumped at the opportunity to have your dad work for me. He was one of the best engineers I’ve ever known and was more than happy to repay him and your mom for their kindness to me and my family all those years ago.”

Benny listened to the two men’s stories in awe. He had no clue that Tom and Allison had helped Tom’s boss out so much back during the days of the studio and that all these years later that kindness would pay off. Allison always told him what goes around comes around, but he never thought he would hear it pan out in such a way. A shy smile graced his face upon looking up at Conner.

“Thank you for helping them. If it wasn’t for your help we wouldn’t be where we are now.”

Conner knelt down to be eye level with the plushdemon. "You're welcome little guy. Your dad and I just gotta make sure these babies are working smoothly before we call it a day so he can take you home. Ok?"

Benny nodded while Tom looked at his boss with a tired appreciative smile. "Thanks. Sorry he came along as I didn't intend to."

"No worries" Conner waved away the man's apology "I finally got to meet him after all this time and that's enough for me. Besides, you need to get him home and don't worry about today's pay. I'll still pay you a full shift."

Tom softly chuckled with his shoulders sagging in relief "Thank you."

Benny looked up at the two men before glancing over at the machines. "What were you making?" His soft voice caught the men's attention.

"Glad you asked!" Conner grinned earning a groan from Tom as the man knew his boss was about to rattle off on a tangent. 

"These are special machines that produce prints on fabrics. In the past getting a unique pattern on a piece of fabric was challenging but with these anything can be printed on the cloth with little effort. It's for the masses to enjoy a wide range of unique patterns that are otherwise expensive to make." Conner waved at each machine, giving a very brief explanation as to what it does and ultimately leading to the final machine with a length of cloth sticking out with a simple print of little sunflowers. "And here is the finished product that would be ready to be cut and sewn into whatever the maker wants. 

Benny's eye's were practically sparkling at the finished fabric. He wanted to try and play with it, but it was for Tom's job so he would just have to look but not touch.

"Didn't you say he could play with the fabrics once we're done since the machines worked?" Tom lifted a brow. "They would just end up in the scrap heap."

"True." Conner shrugged his shoulders. "Benny, is it, why don't you have a go at the fabric and see how it feels working with it."

Benny looked up at his dad for permission for which the man gave a small nod setting the toon down on the ground. The demon pulled out his small travel sewing machine he kept in his hammerspace surprising Conner with his unique toon logic. Tom told the man it was a toon thing as only Benny had a hammerspace since it's internal. The two men watched as the plushtoon set up his little machine and, with permission, cut off a section of the finalized fabric. 

The toon turned the fabric over in his hands studying the weave of the material and debating on what he wanted to make before a little light bulb went off over his head. Conner was about to question the toons actions before Tom cut him off simply stating 'toon logic, don't question, just accept'. The older men watched as Benny pulled out a pair of scissors and began cutting at the material making various shapes that left the both of them wondering what he was making. They just quietly watched as the toon began feeding the pieces through the machine layering and combining the pieces bit by bit to form a shape that he fluffed out and held up giving it a nod of approval. 

The toon reached inside his stomach once more and pulled out a bag of stuffing initially earning a concerned look from his dad but the plushtoon waved away his concern telling him it wasn't his stuffing. It was some that Allison had bought him some time back and he didn’t use it all. Benny wasted no time in stuffing bits of the stuffing into the fabric bit by bit and after a few moments the fabric took the form of a small sunflower decorated teddy bear. A bright grin grew across the demon’s face at the nearly finished bear as with a few swift motions the bear was closed and tied off.

"Here you go." Benny held up the small bear to Conner. "The material seems to run through just fine like any other material."

The man knelt down taking the bear from the toon and examined the little plush in his hand looking over the material. "Well then, I guess I can say we're done here with the machines and they can be boxed and shipped first thing tomorrow. Thank you for your help Benny as you would know the fabrics better then we would."

The toon lightly rocked on his heel as pink dusted his cheeks. "You're welcome. Sorry for giving you a scare earlier."

"Hey, no worries there." Conner ruffled his fingers between Benny's horns. "I'm just glad I got to meet you finally and while it was a bit of a surprise, it worked out in the end." He gave the toon a warm smile before standing up groaning slightly from his back. "Oh here." He held out the plush bear to Benny. "You can keep it since you made it."

Benny shook his head no and gently pushed the bear back towards the man "It's ok. I made it as a test but I didn't intend to keep it. You said you had a family right? Why don't you give it to your kids?"

The toon’s comment earned a hearty laugh from the man and a look of confusion from the demon. "My kids are all grown up and are having kids of their own," his laughter died down "But I'm sure my granddaughter would love the bear. Thank you Benny."

Benny relinquished the plush before he closed up his sewing machine and pulled open his stomach sliding in the machine and scissors. Once the items were away he joined Tom by his side lightly clinging to the man's leg. 

"Welp, that's it for today." Conner smiled pocketing the plush. "The machines are up and running and I think your little one has had enough excitement for one day.

Tom glanced down to see Benny trying to hide a yawn but was failing to do so. The plushdemon gave him a small sheepish grin at realizing he had been busted. The man couldn’t say anything as he himself was tired from the previous night and, if anything, was thankful that his boss was letting him go home early.

“Thank you, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tom bent down and scooped Benny up off from around his leg and into his arms. “Thanks for everything.”

The tired smile of Thomas was met with a warm and understanding one from Conner as the man wished him well and to take care of Benny. Tom wasted no time in rounding up his fallen tool box from when Benny hopped out finding that the insides were completely coated in ink earning a small groan from the man and an apology from the demon in his arms. He waved away the apology as it was just ink, it can easily be cleaned up. The box was closed and locked for the day before Tom removed his work jacket and wrapped it around Benny to hide the toon from the potential prying eyes of nosey coworkers. 

With the little bundle of the wrapped up toon in one arm and his tool box in the other, Thomas wasted no time leaving the workshop and b-lined it for his truck. He breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t get stopped by a random worker as it seemed that most of them were out on various jobs leaving the main workshop relatively empty. That would spare him trying to hide Benny from them, let alone explaining why he’s carrying a bundle to begin with. 

Tom set Benny in the passenger seat finding that not only was the toon already asleep, but his threads had snaked out of his arms and stomach and were wrapped around his arm. The man breathed a small sigh, he really had to wonder why Benny was exceptionally clingy and had to assume it involved the nightmare the little plushtoon had. He gently coaxed the threads to let his arm go naturally finding that there was some resistance to their removal as some of them tried to coil tighter but not too tight. He finally managed to pry the treads off him which earned a small whine and a look of discomfort on the demon’s face as he slept. 

A small look of concern graced the man’s face at the subconscious desperation of the demon as his threads seemed to be searching the car now that they were removed from him, like he was looking for them. Tom set his tool box in the back of the truck and got in on the drivers side surprised that the demon’s threads hadn’t searched there yet as Benny’s small squeaky toy whines had grown louder in his sleep. The toon started to stir before a gentle hand was rubbing the side of his cheek calming him down enough to go back to sleep. Tom waited and watched the toon slip back into a peaceful slumber with his threads having finally located the man. The cords gently wrapped around his arm like a life line yet allowing him enough room to drive with no issues. The man sighed at the odd display from the demon as he had never seen him act this way before. He hid in a place that he had never hid in before, popped out in Ragdoll form, and now was subconsciously clinging to him in his sleep as if he were afraid to let go. He sat in the vehicle studying his sleeping demon before a small thoughtful look graced his face before he started the truck.

The world moved beyond the confines of the tuck as Thomas headed down the road with his sleeping companion. He knew he should have called Allison letting her know that he was heading home early, but he wanted to have some one on one time with the toon hoping that Benny would tell him what all he dreamt about. He knew he couldn’t force him to talk as doing so would make him clam up and shut down, but he hoped that with a change of pace that he might at least say something. 

A glimmer of hope danced in Tom’s eyes upon spying the place he sought, the ice cream shop. He hoped that by getting the toon something cold and sweet that maybe he would relax enough for him to start talking. However he knew they couldn’t eat it there. He needed to go elsewhere where it would be just the two of them and he had the perfect idea as to where to go for that next step. The vehicle came to a stop in the small parking lot of the shop with the man taking a gander at his sleeping companion. He felt bad about having to wake him up but he wanted the demon to pick out what he wanted. He needed to get him dressed first as he was thankful both he and Allison had gotten into the habit of carrying spare clothes for the toon in the vehicles.

A gentle hand removed the threads from his arm as he was thankful they were more cooperative as opposed to earlier when the demon was stubbornly refusing to let go and even subconsciously seeking him out. Must to his surprise after removing the threads they seemed to be withdrawn back to the demon as the cords disappeared into his arms and stomach. That’s gotta be a good sign as he’s calming down bit by bit. 

“Benny, Ben, wake up.” Tom lightly patted the demon on his shoulder gently rocking him.

An amused huff escaped him at the demon meekly waving away his hand trying to relieve himself of the disturbances to his sleep. The man persisted until a small whine escaped the toon as sleepy pie cut eyes met his.

“Hey there sleepyhead.” Tom smiled warmly at the little demon. “C’mon I want you to come with me for a bit, but you gotta get dressed.”

Benny let out a small squeak of a yawn as he nodded allowing his dad to pick him up and pull out his spare set of clothes he kept in a small box under his seat. The demon said nothing as the man dressed him as it was clear to Tom that the demon was still sleepy and wasn’t fussing with the clothing. He was thankful the toon was too tired to complain nor question him as to why he was getting dressed. He knew that would come to an end the minute Benny would see the ice cream as he was always drawn to anything edible. He could already imagine the awed look on the toons faces at all the choices of ice cream then the deep concentration as he would mull over his choices. 

Tom lifted the demon out of his seat and slid his cap down on his head making sure his horns were well hidden before locking up the truck. Benny rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he leaned into the man’s hold earning a consent hum from his father. He was curious as to where they were and got his answer upon his dad opening the door revealing the long glass covered bar of the ice cream shop his folks had brought him to a few times. Like clockwork the toon’s eyes lit up at the selection earning a small chuckle from Tom at the demon's reaction to the bar, and with predictability, the look of concentration quickly replaced it as the toon was going over his options. 

Despite the toon contemplating over what he wanted, he didn’t ask for anything earning a look of confusion on his fathers face. “You don’t want anything?” Tom tilted his head earning the plushdemon’s attention.

“I don’t know what I’m allowed to have.” Benny softly spoke.

He already knew he was a big inconvenience by accidentally showing up at Tom’s job as he knew he must have scared the daylights out of him and his boss. They said that they were fine but he still felt guilty over it as it could have ended horribly, and now Tom was offering to buy him ice cream and he didn’t know why. He wasn’t exactly a well behaved demon today, let alone last night. Some of the memories of his dream creeped into his mind earning a small pathetic squeaky whine

Tom observed the downtrodden expression on Benny’s face as he felt the grip the toon had on him tighten. It was clear to him that the plushtoon was still having trouble shaking whatever he dreamt about last night and the man gave a sympathetic look to the little demon before turning his attention to the clerk.

“Can I get a pint please.”

“Sure sir,” the clerk smiled warmly. “Which flavor would you like?” she asked as she pulled out an empty pint tub ready to scoop out whatever flavor Tom wanted to take home with him.  
  


The man looked over his options before gazing back up at her. “If possible, can I have it as a mix rather than a single flavor?”

She pondered over the man’s inquiry before nodding. “I don’t see why not,” earning a look of relief from Tom, “Which flavors would you like?”  
  


Tom started at one end of the bar and worked his way down picking out all the fruit flavors he could get his hands on. With each flavor picked the clerk steadily added a scoop’s worth into the tub carefully packing it as best as possible. By the time they reached the end of the bar the tub was a tropical paradise of fruit flavors all of which Tom knew the demon liked. Benny looked onwards at the strange behaviour of his father and couldn’t understand as to why he was buying so much ice cream. Usually they got a scoop each and sat down to eat rather than getting a big tub’s worth.

The last scoop was placed in the tub and it was sealed albeit with a bit of difficulty due to how full the container was, but Tom wasn’t worried. He knew that it would be gone soon enough. He asked for a soft serve and a spoon to go alongside the tub for which she happily obliged. He paid for his desired items and had Benny hold onto the tub while he grabbed his soft serve and headed to the truck earning additional looks of confusion from the demon as to what exactly Tom was up to. Where they gonna head home and share the ice cream with Allison?

Companionable silence settled on the pair as Benny held onto the tub for Tom while the man drove the truck towards the familiar route of home occasionally taking a small bite of his soft serve. The toon relaxed in his seat watching the familiar streets and homes pass through by the window, and not before too much longer, the familiar long driveway that led up to their home hidden within the hills. Tom brought the truck to the side of the house parking close to the side gate that led into the back yard earning a raised brow from the demon, but Tom said nothing as he shut the engine off getting out the vehicle.

Benny found the door on his side opened as rough but warm hands undid his seat belt as he was unable to free himself easily with the tub in his grasp. He felt the man wrap his hands around his sides gently lifting him up and out of the vehicle into his arm. Instead of walking towards the front door, Tom unlocked the side gate and went into the backyard.

“How come we aren’t going to the house?” Benny chirped in confusion as his dad said nothing but made his way straight towards the ever familiar ring of trees in the yard that hid his playroom. Why are they going there? Tom didn’t answer the toon's inquiry and opted to open the door to the room and quickly retreated within closing the door and turning on the light to illuminate the demon’s play space.

The room was littered with mountains of pillows, plush toys and blankets with a book case against one side of the room, a desk in the other and in the middle was the ever familiar ink stain that Benny never seemed to explain as it was always there and the demon never made an attempt to clean it. Even when they had offered to clean it for him he didn’t want them touching it so they left it alone.

“Alright, here we go.” Tom set Benny on one of his piles of pillows before piling up a few more and laid down next to the toon. Benny looked at him confused as to why they were in the playroom before he was met with a tired smile. “You can dig into your ice cream now.”

The toon said nothing more as he laid into his fathers side while the man’s arm draped around him as if shielding him from some unknown evil. The man laid in bliss relaxing on the pillow pile content with the world as he heard Benny finally open his tub and began to dig in. Silence carried on as spoonful after spoonful of ice cream was consumed before a small voice finally spoke.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

Tom glanced down at the demon against his side seeing small unshed tears picking at the corners of his eyes. The plushtoon’s consumption of his ice cream having slowed down. His downtrodden expression turned to confusion when he felt a pair of hands rest between his horns gently scratching the area.

“It’s ok.” Tom softly spoke. “I know you didn’t mean to. You were just scared is all.”

“I know, but I couldn’t help it. I-” Benny started before going quiet. “I didn’t mean it, but I couldn't stop myself.” The demon curling in on himself slightly as small tears began to dribble down the sides of his face.

Bit by bit Benny spoke about the nightmare that tortured him through the night all the while Tom quietly listened closeting his horror at the picture the demon painted. Benny spoke of the unforgettable yellowed walls and musty miasma of the studio as he had roamed through the halls in his ever familiar Ragdoll form. That in the nightmare he had an insatiable hunger that was driving him mad as he desperately searched for more bacon soup cans with each place he searched coming up empty despite feeling that there should have been some there. At some point, and he didn’t know when, somehow the studio and his home melded together creating a warped and unfamiliar world as the two clashed, but no matter the unfamiliarity of his surroundings the one thing that stayed was his hunger. 

The toon wept at the horrid memory of the nightmare of him finally finding something to eat only to discover that to his horror it was a human arm and in the corner laid his father missing his arm like how he did in the studio when he was a boris toon. The trail of black fluid that oozed from the man’s injury as he looked at him with fear in his eyes. Benny choked on his words as he described that even though in the nightmare he knew it was his father, the taste of the man’s arm was too irresistible to him. That he wondered what the rest of him tasted like. He bawled as he described him using his threads to ensnare and drag the man who tried to fight him off, losing out to the demon’s strength and binding him as he had done to many of the butcher gang clones he had eaten in the past. How he ripped into the man, his teeth sinking into the man’s flesh eating him without abandon nor mercy. His actions ignoring his internal pleas telling himself to stop, to leave him alone and not hurt him. The desperate cries of his dad begging for the demon to stop soon dying the more the demon ate into him and the last bit that remained drawn into the demon’s second mouth. How the demon relished in the taste of finally feeling full despite the gore that laid beneath him of his once beloved family member. 

The ice cream had long since melted by the time the toon finished his horrific story sobbing into his fathers side. His sobbing ebbed away to small utterances of him calling himself a ‘monster’.

Tom was speechless at what Benny described and the sheer horror, regret and sadness that flowed out of the demon like someone had turned on a faucet on full. Both he and Allison knew they all had done things they regret in the studio and did whatever it took to survive, but they knew little of what the demon’s did to get by. Henry had told them before that he had seen Benny capture and eat a butcher gang member during one of his encounters with the demon. Ragdoll had popped out of what Henry thought was a broken wall revealing it to be a very large trapdoor spider den with Ragdoll as the demonic spider owner in question. How the demon buried both sets of his teeth into his prey and with both mouths he made quick work of the gang member before disappearing back into the den. He just didn’t realize how much it affected the toon all this time later.

“Hey,” Tom lightly nudged the demon using his hand to gently coax Benny to look up at him. Tears streamed down the sides of his face like a river as he tried to use his thumb to wipe some of them away. “No matter what you think you are, you are never a monster in our eyes.”

“I’m a monster wearing a cute face.” Benny hiccuped in his fathers grasp. “I ate other toons, searchers and anything I got my hands on. I’m no better then the machine that destroyed so many lives.”

“That’s not true at all.” Tom wiped some of the tears that continued to fall. “The machine destroyed the studio but you were one of the only good things that came from it. Yes, you ate them cause you needed to, but they were beyond hope long before you came along. You had to do what you needed to do to survive, it's how you're still alive to this day. Besides, you would never hurt us even if you wanted to. You aren’t that type of demon.”

“B-But I had relished in it.” Benny whined from the memory. “I enjoyed that I had done that and it makes me sick to my stomach, deep down I am just a demon of gluttony and can end up hurting you.”

Tom let out a small sigh, Benny wasn’t getting the point he was trying to make as the toon rattled on how he felt that he was a monster and the things he did and ate made him as such. That even though he is well behaved most of the time he had to wonder how much of it was really him or a charade he puts on. The more the toon spoke the more his thoughts began to spiral out of control and Tom knew he needed to stop this before Benny took it too far. He didn’t want the demon to think that he was too dangerous to be near anyone and would try to hide.

“Benny.” The man’s voice and gentle nudging gained the plushdemon’s attention, making him halt in his words. “Can you do me a favor and take your larger form please?” The man’s immediate answer was the toon shaking his head no with fear in his eyes before Tom caught his head holding it still giving the demon a gentle warm look. “Please?”

A small pathetic whine escaped Benny, he really didn’t want to take that form. It was far too easy for him to hurt his family in that form as he is a monster in that one. It’s more true to what he is then his current appearance, but Tom wanted him to take that form and he doesn’t ask him to take it very often.

Tom eased up from the pile of cushions to give Benny some space to take his larger form. The toon gave him a pleading look for him to not go through with the request but a small nod from the man was all that he needed. Tom wanted him to take on his Ragdoll form. The man watched the demon’s body stretch and contort to the familiar horror that once haunted the halls of the studio; Ragdoll.

“See, no harm done.” Tom crossed his arms looking up at his taller demon son.

" **BuT I’M stiLL a MOnsTeR nO mATtER hOw IT’s dREsSed UP,** ” Ragdoll frowned looking at his body. His toothy bowtie and his ever present 2nd mouth that spanned the width of his stomach, the mouth opening slightly with a distinct frown “ **ThIS fOrM ReFLeCTs WhAt I Am.** ”

An irritated huff escaped the man. “All right then, so even if I told you that looks are just that, looks, then would that get it through your thick skull that you aren’t what you think you are? You aren’t the demon you seem to think you are.”

Both mouths spoke in unison earning a deep scowl on Tom’s face. “ **I Am ThE dEMoN as I APpEAr BecAUsE I Am JuSt THat, A dEmOn.** ” both mouths drew into a snarl as Ragdoll growled. “ **I nEEdeD sTRengTH to FIgHt BAck, To huNT, tO kiLL. ThIS fOrM iS oNe I NeVeR ASkEd fOr BuT NeEdeD OuT oF dEsIrE tO LiVe. YoU sAy ThAt LoOkS aRe JuST tHaT, LoOkS, tHeN wHy Do I LoOk The WaY I Do? SiMpLe. I NeEdeD to HuRt OtHeRs To PrOteCt MysElf. THeY wErE tHe MoNsTeR to Me So I BeCaMe ThE mOnStEr To ThEm.** ” The demon’s growls died down to a small whisper. “ **I wAs A mOnStEr To YoU**.”

Tom bit his tongue as the last few words Benny implied. When they reunited he couldn’t hide the brief glances of concern and fear towards Ragdoll as at the time he didn’t know how much of Benny was still in there. They discovered later that Benny hadn’t changed at all, only his appearance. He had come to regret the doubts he held towards the demon but now realized that he had still remembered those brief looks, and now with his nightmare they were on the forefront of his mind. The memories of his parents' doubts fused with his own lingering fears and regrets. He needed to show Benny that none of them are afraid anymore, that they know who he is and what he isn’t. He isn’t a monster in anyone’s eyes and least of all to himself.

“Is that what you really think?” the older man softly asked the demon who now loomed over him. 

Both mouths hissed in unison. “ **YeEeEsSSSsSs** ”

“I'm sorry.” Tom gave an apologetic look before lunging for the Ragdoll demon taking him by surprise.

Ragdoll found the man forcing his fingers between the upper and lower rim of his second mouth wrenching the mouth open against his will. The beast squeaked in shock at the sudden action and even more so when Tom shoved the entirety of his arm within the void of his mouth. The teeth hovering over the invading limb.

“Well go on!” Tom egged the demon on. “You say that you’re a monster then go ahead and show me!” the man glared up at the demon. “Bite me! Rip my arm off as you have done to so many others!” 

Tom buried his arm deeper into the demon and went for the one thing he knew would get a reaction from Benny and that was his heart. His hand pushed past the barrier of his mouth and into the demon's chest. His hand swam through the cotton stuffing and ink that made up the demon's body before finding a familiar pulsing form. Benny's heart. His hand gently grasped around the rapidly beating organ within the demon’s body as the demon in question was paralyized. 

Ragdoll whined as tears picked at his eye at the limb that was now buried within his mouth and now into his chest feeling the man's grasp on his heart. He didn’t want to hurt his dad but the feeling of the man’s arm within his mouth was uncomfortable and every part of him was screaming to shut the mouth, close the hole, protect your heart, protect yourself. The memories of the demon ripping him open to steal ink from his heart flooded his mind as the urges to shut his mouth intensified. The feeling of restraint, pain and the fear of death from a being that would snuff him out without a second thought. He cried at the memory and the desire to do one simple thing: fight back. Now the one invading his vulnerable core this time was his father. He didn't want to hurt the man, even though all it would take is a simple tug to pull his heart out of his chest and kill him. He didn't want to hurt him… he couldn't hurt him, even if he tried. 

Tom watched as the demon was pressed against the wall with his arm still within the void of his second mouth, the demon crying as his mouth was held open. It’s edges twitched, wanting to close but not daring to move. He held his arm within his second mouth for a few moments longer before pulling his arm out. As soon as the arm left the void the mouth remained open as if fearful of closing too quickly that it may snag or cut into the man. He laid his hands against the top and bottom of the mouth gently guiding it to close once more. The stitches that held the mouth closed tightened, resuming their restraint against the void while the demon sagged against the wall slumping to the pile of pillows beneath him. Tom gently took the demon’s head into his hands encouraging Ragdoll to look up at him.

“See, even when your life is in danger, you can’t bring yourself to hurt me.” The man gave a sympathetic smile while wiping the demon’s tears away. “You aren’t that type of demon no matter what you seem to think.” Ragdoll was about to speak before Tom cut him off. “You could have very easily bitten my arm off, but you didn’t. You aren’t capable of hurting us and don’t ever think you can. Just as much as we won’t hurt you, you won’t hurt us. We’re your family and would never ever hurt or abandon you. I’m very sorry I had to do that to you, but it was the only way to get through to you. ”

The man’s words were all that was needed for the demon’s mental walls to come crashing down. Tom felt the weight of the demon as Ragdoll leaned his head into the man’s shoulder crying as he wrapped his long arms around him with the man returning the gesture. Ragdoll bawled with large inky tears streaming down the man's shoulder and back while warm hands rubbed his own encouraging him to relax and let it all go. The pair lingered in the others embrace until Tom felt a shift in the demon’s demeanor. He felt something brush against his legs and he snuck a quick glance towards the demon's side noting a fountain of ink was oozing from him. He held Ragdoll in his embrace as best he could while ink was purged from the demon’s core shrinking back down to his normal toony self.

“There,” Tom cradled Benny in his arms as the little toon was still hugging him to the best of his ability. “Feel better?” 

His answer was a small nod before the toon pulled away to look the man in the eyes. “I-I’m sorry.” he whispered, his voice soft from all the crying.

“It’s ok.” Tom brought him into a hug once more gently rocking him. “We all have our fears, and insecurities but that’s just a part of who we are. It’s how we handle them and cope with them is what matters.” He laid a hand against the plushtoon’s cheek gaining his attention. “We all have our own inner demons, but we will always be better then them. They don’t define who we are.”

Benny softly nodded in his fathers grasp. “Then what does that make me?”

A warm smile blossomed on the older man’s face as he hugged the demon tightly. “You’re my inner demon and one of one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Benny let out a small joyous squeak in the man’s arms as a new set of tears streamed from his face. No matter what he may have done in the past, his parents don’t hold it against him nor let it define who he is. They love him for who he is and will never view him as anything less. He isn’t a monster in their eyes and shouldn’t be viewed as such in his own. He hummed in his fathers grasp before a small thought crossed his mind as he briefly broke the embrace to look at his father, concern laced in his eyes.

“Are you gonna tell Allison?” 

The toon’s inquiry was met with a small shake of his fathers head. “Not unless you want me to.” the man’s comment earning a small ‘no’ from the demon. “Then you only had a bad dream and a little bowl of ice cream was all that was needed to make everything better.” the man’s face full of understanding.

Benny nodded in his fathers grasp as the man grabbed onto the nearly empty tub of melted ice cream before opening the door leaving the room. He threw away the tub before heading out the side gate returning to the front yard and headed to the front porch. The pair barely got through the doorway when Allison wrapped both of them into the biggest hug she could muster. The look of relief and joy plastered on her face as she had the two most important figures in her life home and safe. When asked about the nightmare, Tom and Benny merely chalked it up to a bad dream and that with a little bowl of ice cream that everything was ok. The woman didn’t quite believe them, but she wasn’t about to press them any further.

The evening was spent with the family enjoying the other’s company relieved to be reunited once more before the cloak of night had settled casting the sky into hues of purples and blues as they faded to black. The couple had settled into bed before a small tug at their bedside caught their attention. Both Tom and Allison peered over the side to see Benny holding onto his plush Bendy looking up at them with hopeful eyes. The couple glanced at each other before they both extended a hand grabbing onto the toon and pulling him into the bed with them earning a small joyous squeak. Benny found himself being tucked in between them with an arm from both of them wrapped around him protectively.

The demon couldn’t be happier as he settled into the protective clutches of his parents. The subtle sounds of their heart beats and the warmth their bodies radiated was all that he needed to know that everything was going to be ok. The terrors of the night won’t bother him anymore as long as he had his family by his side. They will see to it that the night remains as quiet as it settles in and that the following day would be an even better one. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tom definitely needs to learn subtlety as the man is a bulldozer with how he handles things, but in the end it worked. Sometimes Benny needs a foot put down as Tom is just the man to do it as to give the toon a reality check.


End file.
